Tag: Congress

Katie Henderson is manager of the Value of Water Campaign for the U.S. Water Alliance. In this episode Katie shares the results of the 2020 Value of Water Index, a poll that shows 84 percent of American voters want state and federal leaders to invest in water infrastructure. She explains the support for water infrastructure investment cuts across demographic, political, and geographic divisions. Katie also discusses other findings from the poll including people’s perceptions of local water services, climate change, and PFAS.

Municipalities need federal assistance to fix aging stormwater infrastructure, reduce flood risk, and comply with the Clean Water Act requirements. This episode outlines the asks for federal assistance to help local communities and utilities to protect surface water sources in the U.S. and ensure public safety. Addressing long-term issues of funding, providing effective tools, environmental data and pollution source control are reasonable and practical for Congress and the Executive Branch to enact in water resources and infrastructure stimulus bills. This episode features audio from a Water Environment Federation webcast. The speakers are Steve Dye of WEF and Seth Brown and Scott Taylor of the National Municipal Stormwater Alliance.

Steve Dye is the Legislative Director and Claudio Ternieden
is the Senior Director of Government Affairs for the Water Environment
Federation. In this episode Steve provides a preview of key issues for Congress
in 2020 including reauthorization of the Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund
and Water Infrastructure and Finance Innovation Act, legislation addressing
PFAS, and grants for SSO and CSO programs. Claudio discusses potential action
on regulatory topics including Waters of the United States, affordability, and
peak wet weather flow. They encourage attendance at Water Week in D.C. on April 27-28
and participation in the Water Advocates
program.

Emily Feenstra is the Managing Director for Government Relations and Infrastructure Initiatives at the American Society of Civil Engineers. In this episode Emily discusses the decision to add stormwater to ASCE’s Infrastructure Report Card, particularly because of data collection by the Water Environment Federation and National Municipal Stormwater Alliance. She talks about the how the report card is produced and used, as well as the recent grades for water infrastructure. Emily also outlines how the report card has impacted public opinion, policy, and funding over the years.

Lori Weigel is Principal at New Bridge Strategy. In this episode Lori discusses the results of an annual public opinion poll conducted through the Value of Water Campaign, which found that 85 percent of voters support increased funding for water infrastructure, a level of support that cuts across demographics, geography, party affiliation, and income level. She also talks about questions on affordability that show four in five voters believe water rates are affordable and are willing to pay more. Lori also explains that only 12 percent of voters are familiar with recycled water.

WEFTEC, the Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference, is the largest annual water quality event in the world. This year it will be held September 29 to October 3 in New Orleans. In this episode, WEF staff provide a preview of WEFTEC, including highlights of the conference program, the new additions to the exhibit floor, what to expect at the opening session, and how to use the app to navigate the event.

Adam Krantz is the CEO of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. In this episode, Adam talks about the complementary roles of the various water associations, including NACWA. He also assesses the current political will by elected officials to act on water issues and discusses paying for clean water, advancing smarter regulations, promoting innovation, and modernizing the Clean Water Act.

Abigail Gardner is the communications adviser for the Value of Water Campaign and U.S. Water Alliance. In this episode, Abigail talks about the results of a new public opinion poll that found 88 percent of voters support increasing federal investment to rebuild America’s water infrastructure and how that support cuts across age, gender, political party, and geography. She also discusses how results have changed over time, findings on drinking water behavior, and the public’s priorities for wastewater utilities.

Tony Parrott is the Executive Director of the Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District. In this episode, Tony discusses how operations and capital programs of U.S. water utilities generate $550 billion in economic activity in communities and the need for Congress to act on infrastructure funding and workforce packages that support that activity. He also highlights efforts in Louisville to include more small and minority owned businesses in contracts, promote job opportunities for local projects, and address affordability of water bills.